


Putting Out Fires

by tamoria



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, and science, expanding an epilogue ending, love and explosions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24949015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamoria/pseuds/tamoria
Summary: The war is over, but things aren't always as peaceful as one would hope. It's time to address that.Or; making an epilogue a bit more personable.
Relationships: Frederick/Miriel (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	Putting Out Fires

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes a friend wrecks the entire discord chat with a rarepair and there's just nothing to do for it but to give it some content.

Peacetime was a world apart from the life Frederick had adapted to in Ylisse’s war efforts. No longer did duty call him to every corner of the country and beyond, rousing before the sun to oversee the endless tasks required for a militia camp to run smoothly, and not allowing himself to turn in until everything was in impeccable order. 

Chrom (Exalt Chrom, now) had settled in to his life within castle walls, along with his clever wife. He’s adored by the populace as a hero, and even more adored by a certain young princess as a father. Frederick has yet to see anything close to the unbridled joy that the toddler Lucina experiences when Chrom lifts her by the wrists to spin her in a circle, her tiny legs kicking in delight at her flight. Although his lord’s own beaming face while her ecstatic squeals ring out may just be a close second. With his family close at hand and the future of Ylisse on his shoulders, Chrom was in no hurry to return to any battlefield.

And Frederick was determined to see to it that his lord exalt has no need to. As Ylisse’s new knight captain, he was in the perfect position to train the new generation of protectors of the halidom’s peace. If he could see to it that the knights of Ylisse reached their best potential, then no one would need worry over bandits and brigands threatening the hard-won bright future.

If only this newest batch of recruits could focus.

“Elbows higher!” Frederick called as his trainee slipped out of the proper stance for the 8th time that morning. And then, as he easily slipped his wooden training lance past the young man’s guard, reminded “And don’t just watch my weapon. Watch my feet, and watch how my stance changes, or you’ll never be able to predict where my next strike will go.”

To demonstrate, Frederick started a lunge high, only to twist his arms at the last second and sweep the lance low. The recruit, who had been bracing to catch the blow around his chest, hollered in surprise as instead his legs were swept out from under him and he was sent tumbling to the grass, still wet with the morning dew. He landed in an inelegant heap and glared balefully up at the knight captain.

“Don’t be angry with me,” Frederick admonished. “It will be your duty to protect your citizens and country. You will need to be prepared for everything and be ready for anything!”

And that was the moment that the tent behind Frederick exploded.

Frederick managed to keep his feet, but it was a near thing as his adrenaline spiked and his mind raced through a thousand terrible possibilities. It was an enemy attack, it was the mountain of fire chasing his steps from Valm, it was the sky and earth tearing asunder as once-living monsters rose again with unquenchable bloodlust, it was…

Ah. It was the tent his wife had converted into her personal laboratory. Still potential for disaster there, but if an explosion was enough to take out Miriel, Frederick would have long since been a widower. 

“If you’ll excuse me,” Frederick said to the wide-eyed recruit, setting off at a trot for what remained of the tent.

The stakes and some of the walls of the tent miraculously remained, although the canvas was scorched and torn beyond hope of salvation. The roof was gone, and what had once been a pristine work station of desks, tomes, and an endless plethora of scientific apparatus was now naught but a wreck of torn paper and shattered glass. At one end of the ruin was the scorched remains of some strange device, the obvious epicenter of the mayhem. And at the other end stood the love of his life, seemingly unhurt and staring at the smoldering remains of her lab with detached scientific interest.

Miriel was alive and without visible wounds, so Frederick prioritized stomping out the embers that were still alight among the wreckage. It was fortunate that he was well practiced in putting out fires both literal and figurative. With the immediate danger taken care of, he was able to turn his attention to his life’s constant but beloved danger. “Dear,” he started, and Miriel stopped peering over her notes to focus on him. “I believe we need to have a discussion.”

Precise fingers adjusted her remarkably undamaged glasses. “Of course. I am always agreeable to rigorous debate. What topic did you have in mind?”

Frederick glanced pointedly around what remained of the tent and fixed her with a raised brow. “A topic I believe we have broached before. Perhaps you recall? The one about safety precautions and volatile experiments?”

Miriel’s glasses were adjusted once more to catch the sun’s bright rays, and the glare on her lens shielded her eyes from his gaze. “Ah. You believe the advice that you are referencing went unheeded in this trial. Not to worry, I had no assistants with me today and I acquired a warding tome for adequate protection of myself. Furthermore, I can confidently categorize this experiment as a success.” 

Frederick gazed dubiously at the burnt wreckage of her apparatus. “ _This_ was a success?” Gods, he does not want to imagine what a failure would have been in this case.

“Verily so! My research suggested that a wind spell may actually be used to not simply control air, but to move targeted molecular gas within the air itself and thus be possible to separate it. Therefore, I theorized that if such a technique were used to concentrate oxygen into an enclosed container,” she brandished towards the scorched device he had been staring at, “and then a fire spell was introduced, the resultant contraption could be an effective weapon. The data here support my initial theory, but I will need to duplicate the results several more times to be certain-”

“No,” Frederick cut in before she could complete that thought. “No more explosions.”

Her brows furrowed in hurt. “You would ask me to cease my pursuit of science?”

He shook his head. “I would sooner ask the sun to stop rising or a flower to not bloom. I cannot change the nature of things, and the world would be a poorer place for it in any case. I would simply ask that the flower not set itself on fire. Perhaps there are less perilous studies for you to pursue? Why this particular experiment?”

No one would describe Miriel as the type to be at a loss for words, but that question gave her pause. “Well, if the process could be replicated, such a weapon could prove useful in securing the safety of our knights…”

A hunch born from several years’ experience being happily married to this woman took root within Frederick. “Or it could help protect one particular knight captain that you may be worried for?”

Miriel’s head ducked down and the wide brim of her hat guarded her expression from view. Ah, so he had guessed correctly. Frederick sighed and stepped closer to his wife, pushing the hat further back on her head to grant himself access to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. “I worry over you, too,” he assured her. “I want nothing more than for us to be able to enjoy the peaceful future we fought so hard to secure. For us to start our family together and get to watch the growth of our smart son,” ( _who is also a touch of a smartass_ , Frederick thought but did not say). “But for that to happen, I need you to take care of yourself. And in return, I promise to keep myself safe for you.” He gazed down at her with a gentle smile. “Deal?”

Miriel met his eyes with a slight smile of her own. “Those terms are amicable.” 

“Good,” Frederick said, and kissed her forehead again, just because he could.


End file.
